We had a group ride at at Gold Butte National Monument. We had planned a large loop there. We ended up riding the loop below.
Starting at Whitney Pocket (top of map), we rode to Little Finland and then proceeded down Gold Butte Wash Road to the old townsite of Gold Butte. All was going great. As we headed down Scanlon Ferry Road we were about 9.3 miles from Gold Butte when we had a mild but rocky climb. With all the loose rocks, I was knocked off-course and headed to the uphill side of the road. I could not get the bike back on course so I stuck my leg out to catch the bike from falling. Unfortunately my foot got caught between the bike and ground in a way that jammed my toes towards my shin, overextending my calf. It was bad enough at that point but I then fell off the bike overextending it much more. Here is the video (below). What the left foot get caught.
We had planned a loop back to Gold Butte. None of us had ridden this area before. After I rested a bit I got back on the bike to continue. We discussed going back the way we came or continuing forward. Unfortunately I chose continuing forward (very bad choice) so we did. At this point I was tired and of course my leg was in pain. It was hard to shift the bike with my damaged leg too. Scanlon Ferry Road was in a sandy wash at this point forward. This is hard riding on a motorcycle. Our planned loop then turns into Twin Springs Wash. It was a less travelled sandy wash that got more primitive as we proceeded. It finally got so primitive it was deemed impassible by me, and some others on bigger bikes so we turned around and headed back.
By now it was after 1pm. As I was quite tired at this point, I crashed another time on the way back, breaking a rib. It was about 35 miles from where we turned around back to the truck. That was a long ride and it was getting dark when we got there.
After the foot issue, my torn calf muscle kept spasming periodically, which was quite painful. I took 3 electrolyte pills to try to help it but the issue persisted. I also drank all 3 liters of water I had so I borrowed some from another rider. The cramping persisted intermittently for the whole rest of the ride.
I always ride will full protective gear, including motocross (MX) boots. MX boots are very thick and rigid, giving very little foot movement. Many riders complain they are so stiff they are hard to ride in. It makes shifting and operating the rear brake challenging for sure. However, they are thick and rigid for a reason: to save your feet and ankles. This could have been much worse. I also only ride with others, never alone.
Here is the GPX file of our actual ride: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bXsZSPlaBLX_1Mh3zX0Jv5bAT865_GAN/view?usp=sharing
More information on Gold Butte National Monument: https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/nevada/gold-butte
Video playlist from this ride: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ4ONVypz2fZV0UhmtEKwNnKysXBBxuaI
Stopping for a break on Gold Butte Wash Road at the intersection of Lime Canyon Road.
